Oct 11th 2011 06:21:02 am

Swapping postcards and quick crafts is plenty of fun, but sometimes swappers crave a more in-depth, time-intensive craft swap experience. After feeling the surge in creativity that you get from small swaps, it is completely understandable that many swappers want to take the step up to larger projects….

BUT, there are a few things to consider before hosting or signing up for a big project swap. Big, lengthy swaps have the potential to be risky.

Some examples of time-intensive swaps: Journal swaps, 100 ATCs or 100 inchies (or any large number), knitting or crochet projects, large art project swaps, like paintings or sculpture, and any type of Round Robin style swap where each participants contributes to a project and then mails it on.

Here are my tips for creating or choosing a time-intensive swap:

• As always, carefully check over the swap coordinator’s profile and rating history before joining a big swap (or any swap). If you are the host, carefully check over your participants’ profiles. Have they done Type 3 swaps before? Have they done time-intensive craft swaps before? Have they been on Swap-bot long enough to indicate that they are committed to the system and to staying active at least long enough to complete your swap?
• Swap which have a very long stretch of time between the sign up deadline and the mail deadline (more than a month) are risky. The more time between when partners are assigned and when the swap must be mailed usually correlates with the number of swappers who go missing, leave Swap-bot, or become suspended due to unsent swaps. I suggest NOT joining swaps with more than a month between the sign up and mail deadlines.
• Time-intensive public swaps are the most risky. Participants don’t necessarily intend to become non-senders, but inexperienced swappers can often get overly excited about the idea of a big swap, but not truly realize the time ad effort it will take to complete it. Private or group swaps are a good way to participate in safer swaps, but they still are not 100% guaranteed to run smoothly.
• If you want to coordinate a big, time-intensive swap, make sure to set very clear and strict requirements and stick to them when weeding out participants. Don’t be afraid to remove swappers who seem questionable.
• Round Robin style swaps have been attempted many times, but they never seem to work out as planned. In order for a Round Robin swap to be successful, every single person must be committed to the swap. If one person drops out, the entire process is stalled. They are an awesome swap idea, but I do NOT suggest hosting Round Robin swaps except within very trusted groups of swap friends.
• Always keep in mind that swapping is inherently risky, even with the feedback and safety measures used on Swap-bot. Things can happen which prevent users from sending. There is always a chance that you may not receive a swap. Do not join swaps that are too expensive or require more of a commitment than what you find fun and enjoyable. Swap items that you love making, just for creativity’s sake.
• Not receiving a swap is a major bummer, especially when it is a big, time-intensive swap. It is extremely important to rate your non-sending partners with a 1 so that future swap hosts will know not to allow them in their swaps.

What do you think? Do you join time-intensive, big project swaps? Leave you tips for successful swapping in the comments…

8 Comments » Categories: Tuesday Tip

8 Responses to “Tuesday Tip: Time-intensive Swaps”

1. Linda50 on 11 Oct 2011 at 10:58 am #

   Great list Rachel.

   An idea for screening participants for these time intensive swaps, is to require them to have a FLICKR account so that you can see their previous work.

   Set up the swap so that people get the majority of the work done before partners are assigned. Then require them to post pictures of what they are making. Drop anyone who has not made anything before assigning partners.

   These ideas could be seen as really strict, but worth it for things like Journal swaps that tend to draw a lot of people who cannot complete the swap.

   I agree that Round Robins should only be done with trusted friends. I would also suggest that a private group be set up just for the round robin to help keep track of who has who’s journal. The coordinator should make sure each person has no more than max two journals at a time. When people drop make sure that they have sent all journals out before theirs is returned to them. You can set up a series of private one on one swaps for when the journals change hands. No more than 10 people in the round robin. Maybe first time just do 5 people or less. You can delete the group after the swap.

2. rachel on 11 Oct 2011 at 1:35 pm #

   Thank you for these awesome tips, Linda!

   Another big journal swap went awry and many swappers are disappointed. Unfortunately, the time between the sign up deadline and mail deadline was over two months, which is plenty of time for people to go missing.

   Hopefully, a good amount of people will read these tips. I plan to get the entered in a permanent spot on the site asap.

   Thanks again for your help.

3. Sandra Dowkes on 11 Oct 2011 at 3:50 pm #

   user6937 here. I noticed that a person said somebody was a flaker but she hadn’t been rated a 1. Is this something that should be forwarded to you, Rachel?

4. Sandra Dowkes on 11 Oct 2011 at 3:51 pm #

   I wanted to ask her why she hadn’t rated this person, but felt it wasn’t my business. However, as somebody who does host swaps, I definitely agree that I need to know if somebody hasn’t followed through.

5. Holly on 11 Oct 2011 at 9:07 pm #

   Hello! I’m currently in a Hogwarts House Whimsy Jar swap that I have put a lot of time and effort into and I’m loving it so far! I’ve find it helpful to just talk to the people I’m sending to and from to ask questions and keep them updated. There’s only 6 of us in the swap and it’s a month long, so I think it being small makes it a bit easier too.

6. kathyc/bohemianprincess on 13 Oct 2011 at 12:35 pm #

   Thank you so much for the tips. I wish this was a requirement for everyone to read. A lot can happen in a month,what started out as a fun idea last month can turn out to be a boring chore now. People dont realize also its cost alot of money to mail heavy items,plus if you have several to mail at one time that makes it worse. I dont mean to be a negative Nellie but thats why I dropped out of that big journal swap before partners were assigned I knew it was heading south,sometimes us oldies do know what we are talking about lol. Thank you for all you and Travis do for us botters,

7. Emika on 17 Oct 2011 at 10:31 am #

   I would also add, about dates: personally, I don’t think there’s any reason to have a long time between sign up and send by dates in cases where the swap is not profile based. In swaps like this, there’s no reason why the swap can’t be made ahead of time, so there can be a relatively short window.

8. Nancy/Pedal2u on 18 Oct 2011 at 2:25 pm #

   I also looked at these tips as great knowledge. I unfortunately learned the hard way before reading these. I did sign up for a journal and was so excited. Time period longbut I did work on it. Things happen and life gets in the way. My computer died and I lost my work, I became ill and now had to start all over. My partner was wonderful and gave me lots of extra time but I finally felt it unfair to her to make her wait any longer or rush threw it and send a poorly done swap. One needs to know themselves when choosing, I will not send if it is not my very best work. I opted to take the 1 rating which in retro spec might have not been the best choice.
   My point is an example of your intense swap considerations. Life does happen and that needs to be factored in before doing those swaps. I agree these tips should be required to read on sign up.

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